FIMP - Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point

FIMP - Fire Island Inlet to
Montauk Point Project

July 19,
2016 Update

- The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, New York District, in
partnership with New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
announces the availability of the Draft
Re-evaluation Report with the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the
proposed Fire Island Inlet to Montauk
Point, NY, Coastal Storm Risk Management
Project.

Comments provided will
become part of the public record for this
EIS. Comments submitted will be fully
considered during the preparation of the
final EIS. All written comments,
including names and address, will be made
a part of the administrative record,
available to the public under the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA). The
Administrative Record, or portions
thereof, may also be posted on a Corps of
Engineers web site.The acknowledgement of
the receipt of comments or responses to
individual letters and comments will not
be provided but will be included and
addressed in the final EIS.

The purpose of the on-going Fire Island to
Montauk Point (FIMP) Reformulation Study is
to identify, evaluate and recommend
long-term solutions for hurricane and storm
damage reduction for homes and businesses
within the floodplain extending along
83-miles of ocean and bay shorelines from
Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point. This
area extends as far landward in some
locations as Sunrise Highway and Montauk
Highway. The study considers all areas
within the maximum estimated limit of
flooding, and is located entirely within
Suffolk County. This encompasses the
Atlantic and bay shores of the Towns of
Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Southampton, and
East Hampton and incorporated Villages. The
study area also includes 26 miles of the
Fire Island National Seashore, which is
under the jurisdiction of the National Park
Service.

Congress and New York State have asked the
United States Army Corps of Engineers
(Corps) to develop a comprehensive long-term
plan of protection for areas that are prone
to flooding, erosion and other storm damage.
This plan would replace the numerous
uncoordinated measures that have been used
to protect individual properties with a
comprehensive management approach that
considers the entire coastal system. The
objective of the study, therefore, is to
evaluate and recommend a long-term,
comprehensive plan for storm damage
reduction, which maintains, preserves or
enhances the natural resources. The New York
State Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) is the Corps' non-Federal
partner.

The Reformulation Study approaches the issue
of storm damage along Suffolk County's south
shore in a different way than previous
studies:

It looks at the study area as a
comprehensive coastal system and evaluates
alternatives for their impacts at specific
locations and on the entire system.

The study team includes the participation of
all concerned Federal, State and local
government agencies, as well as major
scientific and environmental organizations.

It includes state-of-the-art engineering,
environmental, economic and planning studies
to provide information about historic
conditions and to model possible future
conditions. To ensure objectivity and high
standards, these studies are being
independently reviewed.

PROCESS:

The 83-mile long Fire Island Inlet to
Montauk Point study area contains many
different physical environments and distinct
geographic areas, each having individual
problems and needs. The planning process
consists of a series of steps to identify
problems, propose and evaluate alternative
solutions, and ultimately identify a
recommended plan. The development of
alternative plans will combine different
measures in different locations of the study
area. This approach offers both flexibility
and opportunities for long-term decisions
about what works best for each location, as
well as for the entire study area. While the
specific solutions will vary, the following
basic components are being evaluated at all
locations:

Coastal management measures will address
issues such as the condition of inlets
including the need for sand bypassing, and
emergency response to storm events. This
assessment may result in adopting new
procedures for maintaining navigation inlets
or responding to breaches in the barrier
system. Storm damage reduction options may
include structural and non-structural
options, and may supplement the
effectiveness of coastal management
measures. The study approach is to identify
cost-effective regional or coastal
protection features, such as beach and dune
fill and groin modification. Concurrently,
the direct protection of flood plain
development through measures such as flood
proofing or structure acquisition will be
evaluated and ultimately integrated into a
comprehensive plan. An additional element of
the FIMP project will be a Floodplain
Management Plan to ensure the future
effectiveness of the Coastal Management
Measures or the Storm Damage Reduction
features. The elements of the Floodplain
Management Plan will be developed in
parallel with the development of the Coastal
Management Measures and Storm Damage
Reduction features.

While Coastal Management and Storm Damage
reduction features may be implemented with
federal funding support, the Floodplain
Management Plan is implemented at the state,
county and community level.

Image below (click
image for larger view) shows
example of the storm damage problem is
the extratropical storm of March 6,
1962. A total of 50 wash-overs
occurred, and one new inlet at
Westhampton Beach was formed. On Fire
Island, a total of 47 homes were
destroyed and 75 were damaged.

As a result of this storm, the New York
District of the Army Corps constructed
emergency protective works throughout
the study area ("Operation Five-High").
Assistance was provided to the local
communities in the removal of debris,
and in the rebuilding of beaches and
dunes. One of the first response actions
of the Corps was to assist in the
closure of the breach at Westhampton. In
total, over 2 million cubic yards of
material were used to rebuild over 23
miles of beaches and dunes in the study
area.

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